The Vans Pier Classic produced a slashing of local surfers Saturday, leaving only two Orange County surfers to move on to Sunday as the quarterfinals get underway.

Those two junior surfers – Newport Beach’s Andrew Doheny and San Clemente’s Kolohe Andino – are among top athletes in the world remaining in the contest, with World Tour surfers Adriano De Souza, Damien Hobgood and Taylor Knox still hanging strong.

The strong swell that has brought waves the past few days for the event continued, with clean conditions under overcast skies. The fans came out on Saturday, watching the action from the sand and pier.

Rusty Whitlock came up from San Diego to cheer on his son, Ricky, who made it to the quarterfinals.

“The competition is getting tighter and the surfing level is getting higher,” he said, as he watched Damien Hobgood from the pier.

Huntington Beach surfer Christian Saenz – along with Teddy Navarro, Shaun Ward and Micah Byrne – couldn’t quite get the rhythm at their home break. Still, Saenz was stoked by his performance at his first World Qualifying Series event.

“It was hard,” he said. “It was different. I didn’t know what to expect, but I got some good scores in the first rounds. It’s a good confidence booster.”

Saenz was one of many surfers in the age bracket allowing him to surf in the main and junior 4-star events. On Friday, Saenz surfed back-to-back heats, with one in the main and one in the juniors – putting him in the water for 45 minutes.

San Clemente’s Ian Crane was also taken out of the main event, but was a standout in the juniors, where he scored a 9 and an 8 on back-to-back waves.

“I felt good. I went down this morning, I was kind of bummed,” he said. “I just wanted to go out there and show people I know how to surf. I just redeemed myself, I guess.”

Doheny and Andino, still in the hunt for the title, also surfed both events. Both last year made it on the World Junior Tour, and Sunday will be testing their skills against experienced surfers who have been on tour for years.

World Qualifying Series surfer Damien Fahrenfort, who will go up against Doheny in his heat, knows he can’t underestimate the young surfers.

“It’s stressful, the kids are so good,” said the South African surfer, who is living in Newport Beach. “They are way better than I could ever surf at that age.”

Newport Beach twins Taylor and Jared Thorne, 17, found themselves pitted each other in the same heat during the junior event, but showed brotherly love so they could both advance. Taylor had the lead the entire heat, but knew his brother needed a high score to advance.

A set came in with about two minutes on the clock. They were sitting next to each other and he was paddling for one of the first waves in the set, which were closing out.

He yelled to Taylor: “Is there another good one?”

“I gave a little hoot to let him know the next one was good,” Taylor said. “Fortunately, he got a good score.”

Laylan Connelly started as a journalist in 2002 after earning a degree in journalism from the University of Southern California. Through the years, she has covered several cities for The Orange County Register, starting as a beat reporter in Irvine before focusing on coastal cities such as Newport Beach, Dana Point and Laguna Beach. In 2007, she was selected for a prestigious Knight New Media fellowship focusing on digital media at UC Berkeley, where she learned skills to adapt to the ever-changing online landscape. Using a web-based approach, she turned her love for the ocean into a full-time gig as the paper’s beaches reporter. The unique beat allows her to delve into coastal culture by covering everything from the countless events dotting the 42 miles of coastline, to the business climate of the surf industry, to the fascinating wildlife that shows up on the shores. Most importantly, she takes pride in telling stories of the people who make the beaches so special, whether they are surfers using the ocean to heal, or the founders of major surf brands who helped spawn an entire culture, or people who tirelessly fight to keep the coast pristine and open for all to enjoy. She’s a world traveler who loves to explore the slopes during winter months or exotic surf spots around the globe. When she’s not working, or maybe while she's researching a story, you can find her longboarding at her favorite surf spots at San Onofre or Doheny.

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